US peace envoy Dennis Ross has postponed his visit to Israel and the Palestinians territories, reported Haaretz newspaper.

Another date for Ross's visit to the region has not been set yet, added the paper.

Ross was scheduled to arrive Tuesday for talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials to plan for a three-way summit in Washington between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and US President Bill Clinton.

The paper added that political staffers in the United States said that "Barak is not interested in meeting Ross as long as the violence in the territories continues.”

One source told the daily that Barak "believes that Ross's visit should take place only after the violence and incitement in the Palestinian Authority has significantly decreased," said the paper.

Clinton last week announced after meeting with Barak in Washington that a three-way summit in Washington was likely to take place by the end of the month.

Clinton wants both sides to stop the violence and return to the negotiating table.

However, a senior Palestinian official said Sunday that the Palestinians would refuse to return to the same peace negotiations that Israel and the Palestinians had reached before the eruption of violence on September 28, said the paper.

Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo told Palestinian radio that the reason the Palestinians would refuse to return to the former negotiations was because the peace talks were useless and going round in circles.

"The completely one-sided American position with Israel is also one of the reasons that we do not want to get back to the same rhythm of the previous negotiations," said Abed Rabbo - Albawaba.com